Pokémon Go gets a special New Pokémon Snap event featuring a shiny Smeargle

By Giovanni Colantonio Published April 15, 2021

Pokémon Go is getting a special event to celebrate the release of New Pokémon Snap. Players will be able to grab some photography-themed goodies and have a chance to catch a shiny Smeargle.

New Pokémon Snap, a sequel to a 1999 Nintendo 64 photography game, comes to Nintendo Switch at the end of the month. Pokémon Go‘s special event lines up with the game’s release window. It’ll begin one day before the Switch game launches on Thursday, April 29, and end on Sunday, May 2.

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The big prize during the event is a shiny version of Smeargle, the paint-brush-tailed Pokémon, which usually appears in the game when players take a photo with the app. The Pokémon’s encounter rate will increase during the event, and players will have higher odds of finding a shiny version. This is the first time a shiny version of Smeargle has appeared in the game.

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The event will feature increased appearances of other Pokémon found in the new Lental region featured in New Pokémon Snap. Dodrio, Venusaur, and Skarmory are among some of the creatures that will appear during the weekend. Pokémon from the Lental region will appear in raids more often as well.

The update will also bring event-exclusive research tasks Some of those “photography-themed” tasks will revolve around taking snapshots. Players will be able to grab new camera avatar in the style shop for free, as well as a sticker.

The event begins at 10 a.m. on April 29 and New Pokémon Snap launches on Nintendo Switch the next day, April 30.

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Giovanni Colantonio

Senior Gaming Editor

As Digital Trends' Senior Gaming Editor, Giovanni Colantonio oversees all things video games at Digital Trends. As a veteran…

Gaming

NBA All-World aims to replicate Pokémon Go’s success starting today

A player walks around their neighborhood's map in NBA All-World.

Niantic launched NBA All-World, its basketball-themed, location-based mobile game, on iOS and Android today. Ahead of this release, Digital Trends attended a presentation to learn more about how the sports AR title works.
If you've played any of Niantic's games before, many elements of NBA All-World will feel quite familiar. The mobile game tracks players' location and encourages them to explore. While doing so, players will find Drop Zones that grant them new gear. Niantic says Drop Zones will often be placed near real-world counterparts, so players can find money near a bank or shoes near a shoe store.
There will also be Player Encounters, where they can face off against current NBA athletes. Niantic tells Digital Trends that classic athletes aren't currently in the game, but feels that idea "is a good one."

In Player Encounters, users face off against athletes in one of four minigames: 3-Point Shootout, Beat the Clock, Around the World, and First-to-Five. While they feature some impressive and realistic animation for a mobile game, Niantic says these minigames only use simple swipe controls because the studio wanted to make something that is easy to play while someone is walking around their neighborhood. If a user wins a Player Encounter, they can recruit that athlete to their team, customize them with items found at Drop Zones, and upgrade them by playing with them. Players can also challenge players they already recruited again to earn more currency.
The title also includes "Rule the Court" neighborhood leaderboards, many of which are placed at real-world basketball courts, where players can compete for the highest score. Currently, there are no player-versus-player elements in NBA All-World, although Niantic understands players like competitive modes in their sports games and may add them in the future. In fact, many features are still in the pipeline for post-launch updates, including Niantic's trademark AR support. Early in the second quarter of 2023, Niantic plans on adding AR support to NBA All-World to enhance the loot drops from Drop Zones to make it look like they're happening in the real world.
One thing that will be in the game at launch is microtransactions, which Niantic says will be similar to the ones available in its other games and allow players to increase their athletes' stats with Offense, Defense, and Fitness boosts.
Despite the undeniable success of Pokémon Go, Niantic has never been able to completely replicate its success with games like Harry Potter: Wizards Unite or Pikmin Bloom. However, the studio seems confident that basketball has the global mass appeal to make NBA All-World another massive hit for the company. The early footage we saw of the game does leave us optimistic for NBA All-World's prospects, but we'll ultimately have to wait and see if the game will make it past its rookie season.
NBA All-World is available now for iOS and Android.

Gaming

Marvel Snap’s Winterverse event introduces new cards, variants, and more

Marvel Snap art highlights Winterverse variants for Rogue, Ebony Maw, Patriot, and Rockslide.

The latest Marvel Snap update kicks off the Winterverse event, bringing many holiday-themed variants and brand-new cards to the mobile card game.
The two new cards coming to Marvel Snap this week are Darkhawk and Sentry. Darkhawk is a superhero who first emerged in the 1990s and has a techno-organic body with glider wings. In Marvel Snap, he's a 4-Cost, 1-Power Ongoing card that gives +2 Power for each card in the deck of your opponent.
Meanwhile, Sentry is a hero that was introduced in 2000 that has Superman-like abilities, but is connected to an evil entity called the Void that's just as powerful. In-game, that translates to Sentry being a 4-Cost On Reveal card with 8-Power that can't be played at the right location, as playing Sentry will cast a -8 power Void card there.
https://twitter.com/MARVELSNAP/status/1605269381176758272
We don't know if Sentry and Darkhawk are Series 3, Series 4, or Series 5 cards yet. It will take some time for Marvel Snap's meta to evolve and really prove whether or not Darkhawk and Sentry are all that useful, but they do both have interesting abilities. Regardless, keep an eye out for them in Collector's Reserves and in the Token Shop.
They're not the only part of the Winterverse event, though. From December 20 until January 2, Second Dinner is giving away in-game awards for logging in each day. These range from 100 credits to a special Nick Fury card variant featuring Samuel L. Jackson's signature. Five new winter-themed card variants will also start to show up in the shop and Collector's Reserves. You can now find Winterverse cards for Abomination, Ebony Maw, Patriot, Rockslide, and Rogue.
A Winterverse bundle that includes a Sunspot Winterverse Variant, Avatar, 2000 Collector's Tokens, 8000 credits, 100 Sunspot Boosters, and a "Tacos After This?" title will be added to the shop in the coming days as well.
Marvel Snap is available now for iOS, Android, and PC, and it even made Digital Trends' best games of 2022 list.

Gaming

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Pokemon trainer and team in Scarlet and Violet.

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Even though you begin your journey, as always, as a brand new trainer in the world of Pokémon, there are plenty of things you're better off learning ahead of time to make your quest to catch 'em all that much easier. We've gone ahead and filled out our Pokédex, acquired all the gym badges, and thwarted Team Star's plans to bring you these essential tips and tricks for Pokémon Scarlet and Violet.